Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 29, 2017
Price: $6.00
Creator(s): Mike Mignola, Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook, Gerard Way, Gabriel Ba, Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Joelle Jones, Jamie S. Rich, Matt Kindt, Sharlene Kindt, Kurtis Wiebe, Mindy Lee, Brian Wood, Mark Chater
Format: 224 pgs., Full-Color, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-5067-0296-4
Age Rating: Teen
ICv2 Rating: 5 Stars out of 5
Dark Horse Number Ones collects the first full issues of eight different creator-owned titles, which range from horror to fantasy to adventure. They include The Umbrella Academy, Hellboy in Hell, Lady Killer, Black Hammer, Dept. H, Briggs Land, Bounty and Harrow County #1.
For fans of horror, there’s Mike Mignola’s Hellboy In Hell, Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook’s Harrow County, while both Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's Umbrella Academy and Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston's Black Hammer offer unusual takes on superheroes. Some of the other series are more difficult to put into obvious genre categories. Which is the case for the blend of black humor and action to be found in Joelle Jones and Jamie S. Rich's Lady Killer. As well as Matt Kindt and Sharlene Kindt's underwater mystery Dept. H, Kurtis Wiebe and Mindy Lee’s unconventional science fiction saga Bounty and Brian Wood and Mark Chater's Briggs Land, a crime comic set in an American militia.
It’s difficult to find both the time and money to sample all of the good comics coming out right now, which is what makes this inexpensive compilation so valuable for both people new to comics and longtime fans (like myself). I can’t guarantee you’ll find something you’ll like, but it’s certainly seems likely.
--Steve Bennett: Writer and retail services consultant.